Foundations of Philosophical Counseling

Abstract

This article (text of a lecture given at the Third International Conference on Philosophical Practice in New York, 1997) gives the main statements of a forthcoming book on philosophical counseling, result of a three-year research project (1995-1998). Philosophical counseling is understood as a professional way of counseling with philosophy as foundational background. The proposal is to regard seriously the often mentioned phrase of 'man as a philosopher' and to reconstruct the 'philosophy of every-day life' according to the philosophical disciplines (for instance cosmology/philosophy of nature, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, anthropology). The foundation of philosophical counseling may be located by checking the philosophical disciplines under the viewpoint of application. Of greatest importance are hermeneutics (the question: what is understanding?) and ethics (as a way of dealing with values). Also important are epistemological and anthropological issues and results. Relevant empirical findings must also be taken into account, especially from psychology and empirically-oriented psychotherapy. The history of philosophy can be regarded and used as a sequel of different world views. Another area of importance is the history of the application of philosophy, i.e., examples of 'philosophy as a form of life' to which many philosophers are re-relating nowadays and from which philosophical counselors can draw.